JD Vance to headline rally in Virginia after VP nod

Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance will headline a rally in Radford, Va., on Monday as the campaign hopes to flip the Old Dominion into the Republican camp for the first time in 20 years.

Former President Donald Trump announced Vance as his running mate this week amid the Republican National Convention. Though formerly a Trump critic, Vance has emerged as one of his most stalwart supporters in the upper chamber.

"Senator Vance will speak to how Crooked Joe Biden has failed the great people of Virginia. Biden’s policies are costing hard-working Virginia families more than ever at the grocery store, the gas pump and with energy costs," read a press release from the campaign. "In fact, since taking office, Bidenflation has cost the average family in Virginia nearly $28,000."

Polling data currently shows Virginia in battleground territory, with Trump narrowly leading Biden in the RealClearPolitics polling average. The state last backed a Republican for president in 2004, when it supported President George W. Bush's reelection bid.

Late last month, Trump held a rally in Chesapeake, Va., in which he appeared alongside GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin and insisted the state was winnable.

“We’re leading in the Commonwealth… it could be a very substantial lead, but we have one poll we’re two up, another one we’re three up, another one we’re four up, one we’re even, but that was a very Democrat poll. I don’t believe that,” he said.